Our Solemn Hour (Hiatus)
by Kagaminelover657
Summary: Sequel to 'Never Forget, Never Forgive'. After an unexpected setback, Victoria Macken struggles to adjust to her new life as a Grim Reaper. Things only worsen when she is assigned to watch over the Queen's new Watchdog as investigations over their soul are put underway. With old allies and new ones aiding her, will Victoria handle the chaos that ensues from this one measly soul?


**Hello again. It's been quite a while since I've last updated my fanfics, I know, and I can only apologise for that. I don't have as much time as I did before to update my stuff anymore, due to life and the things happening within that. And due to that, I have suffered from lack of muse for most of my ****stories, which again I apologise for. I am trying my hardest to update everything when I can, but it's taking me quite a while, unfortunately.**

**Well, with that out of the way, I can get to talking about my latest fanfic. For those who have read my story 'Never Forget, Never Forgive', I did mention when it ended that I would be writing a sequel to it with Victoria that stemmed a continuation from the alternate timeline of Alois' existence and fate, along with Ciel's. And that is exactly what I have attempted to do. Admittedly, this isn't the original idea that I had for this fanfic, which was scrapped because I couldn't get anywhere with it, in all honesty. However, with the releases of sections of the Kuroshitsuji manga in anime form, 'Book of Circus' and 'Book of Murder', my muse for Kuroshitsuji was ignited heavily, and it helped me to come up with another idea which I can hopefully work with.**

**However, that doesn't mean I am going to do what I did last time and follow the anime closely. In fact, I am going to try to stem away from using Book of Circus and Book of Murder within this fanfiction at all costs, since the story now mostly focuses on Victoria herself and not Ciel as much. Admittedly, I should have maybe put this chapter as a prologue or epilogue to my last story rather than make it a chapter; however, due to what time this takes place after the events of the second anime, which isn't that long, I decided to keep it as it is. Characters from the first story may reoccur here and there, and new characters will be introduced as well. I may even try to add in elements of the manga more when I can find time to look at the other Arcs, since I haven't got that many volumes of Kuroshitsuji in my possession, and they're all completely out of whack in terms of what events take place where because they're different sections from different Arcs.**

**But for now, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of the sequel story. :) **

**I recommend reading my first story before reading this one though, just to make sure you fully understand what part my OC has in everything.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fanfic except my OC. This has been written for fun and entertainment only. Please support the original creators of the anime and manga.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Her Maid, Adjusting

I'm going to be perfectly honest with you here. I didn't expect everything to turn out the way it did.

By _this_, I mean lying in the middle of the street on my own, losing a lot of blood. Yes, you read that right.

I was in a lot of pain now, as you can probably imagine… The carriage I had been riding in was sent off the main road after the carriage driver attempted to divert around a group of thieves who had charged from nowhere, and ended up crashing. The carriage overturned, trapping both me and him. This allowed the thieves to steal whatever they could get at and dash away whilst they could. No one had been around to help because it was late at night, and the street was practically deserted.

I was currently trapped outside of the carriage, with my legs caught and crushed underneath. I'd fallen out of it when the carriage had crashed into the side of a nearby wall, which was an opening to an alleyway. I couldn't feel them at all, so I haven't made any attempt to try to move yet. In fact, I can't feel the lower half of my body at all. I've also felt something damp oozing down the side of my face from my forehead, which I can only assume is blood. I'd landed on my back, so I was facing the dark sky of London. There were no stars around tonight, which only made this situation even more depressing for me.

Sadly, I'm not sure about what happened to the driver. I haven't heard any movement since the crash, so I can only assume, sadly, that he died upon impact. I expect the Grim Reapers to show up soon to cut off his cinematic record. Or maybe even a demon to come and steal his soul to feed their hunger.

It's strange, really. Ever since knowing about the existence of demons, and reapers, and angels, my perception on everyday life has changed. I guess that's because I know the fate of humans now at the hands of these immortal beings. I blame Ciel for that. He introduced me to Sebastian in the first place, after all, and led me into discovering things any human wasn't supposed to know. I have to wonder at how he's doing now. It's been three months since I last saw him.

And this is probably the part where some of you are confused about what I mean. Well, allow me to give you a brief overview.

Four months ago, Ciel Phantomhive departed from this world as a demon alongside his demon butler, Sebastian. Ciel left the Phantomhive estate, the Funtom Company, and the rest of his worldly possessions in my care temporarily, up until it was time for me to depart as well.

* * *

"_The servants will be told that I am going away for a short while and will not return. The manor will be run as it usually would without me there, but in due time it will be implanted into their heads that I have died. I have left that method up to Sebastian. So you must not speak a word to anyone about this, okay? This is between you and me only"_

"_Of course, Ciel"_

"_But Victoria, there is one favour that I want to ask of you"_

"_Which is…?"_

"_Will you take over my position until you are required to leave?"_

* * *

This was all caused by my brother, Alois Trancy (formerly known as Jim Macken), who made a contract with another demon named Hannah, and not only ensured that Ciel's soul couldn't be eaten by either Sebastian or Claude (his demon butler), but also that my soul could not be touched by any immortal being whatsoever.

* * *

"_My revenge has already been fulfilled. My remaining life is just so my soul can be devoured by him"_

"_That's all ruined now thanks to the contract I made with Hannah…"_

* * *

Because my soul disrupted the natural flow of death for demons, grim reapers, and possibly angels, I was told that in due time, I would have to become a grim reaper in order for the balance to be restored.

* * *

"_Your soul is different from other humans. For some reason, it cannot be touched by anyone who is immortal. It cannot be taken by a demon. It cannot be taken by an angel. And it certainly cannot be taken by a Reaper. So if you were to die under natural causes, your soul would remain within your body. It would never leave it, because it would have nowhere to go. Your soul is defying the regulations of Reapers. That is why I am currently down here; therefore, you can no longer live as a human. You must become a Reaper in order to restore the natural balance"_

"_S-So, does it have to be done right now? Must I become a Reaper right this second? Isn't there any other option?"_

"_I am afraid this is the only option you must take. And no. I have already spoken to the vermin about this matter. You may live as a human for a short while longer. I believe you may have certain arrangements to make…"_

* * *

Of course, William never cared to inform on how that was supposed to happen… until I eventually realised it right this second.

Yes, I had suspected something like this to happen to me at some point. I just didn't know when. Even though Grell had suggested the idea that I may have to form a contract with a Reaper, it seems that isn't how the process is truly meant to work. Grim Reapers are different to demons, after all. William must have agreed with Grell in order to hide the truth from me.

I sighed heavily as I strained my ears to find any source of sound nearby, yet I was resulted with nothing but silence and the memories playing back in my head. My eyes however did catch on to a small glint coming from the right, which I slowly tilted my head towards. The dim lighting of the street lamp on the corner had caught the three rings I still had on my three main fingers: Jim's ring, Ciel's family heirloom, and the Shard of Hope respectively. They appeared to be undamaged, which I was relieved about. I don't think Ciel would have liked it if I'd damaged his possessions…

* * *

"_One of them is a gift from me, while the other is from the Undertaker. Apparently he found it while sorting out Lucas' body. He thought you might want to keep it"_

* * *

It's ironic how this accident happened to occur just as I was heading back towards the Phantomhive Manor after negotiations with Lizzy's Father, Alexis Leon Midford, to hand over the Funtom Company and the Manor under Queen Victoria's care until she was able to choose someone she believed worthy to take over as the Queen's Guard Dog. I'm very lucky those arrangements were made before this happened…

In all honesty, I don't know how severe my injuries actually are. I can feel the bottom of my dress getting damp against my legs, which must mean I'm bleeding more than I realised. I'll most likely die of blood loss, so I should be expecting reapers to show up soon enough, especially William. After all, they can't reap my soul properly anyway, because of my brother's wish with Hannah. I suppose all I can do, as I have been doing since I crashed here, is reflect on my life until someone comes. If I actually live through this, I'll be greatly surprised.

Admittedly, I'm terrified of my fate right now. Death is unknown to me, after all, and as much as I don't want to die… I know it's going to happen. I have no say in the matter, which frightens me more. I feel bad for leaving Elizabeth behind on her own to cope with Ciel's departure, and soon mine. I don't want to leave Bard, Finny, or Mey-Rin behind either to look after the mansion on their own with Tanaka, and I certainly don't want to leave Ren and Lin like this. I didn't want to go out this way. I don't want to leave everyone behind on their own to deal with all these complications. But in all honesty, I don't see how I could have gone on in my life anyway. I guess that's why Ciel gave up his so easily. All he wanted, in the end, was revenge, as did I.

Although, I can't say that my life hasn't been eventful since Ciel's departure. Despite how upset she was, Lizzy had gone behind my back and secretly planned a surprise 14th birthday gathering for me, which was around three months ago. Elizabeth also forced me to spend a lot of time with her, and by a lot, I mean _a lot_. Because, naturally, I was merely looking after the manor temporarily and the position Ciel had held until Queen Victoria was able to find a replacement, so I had free time on my hands, unlike Ciel had. But, admittedly, my time spent with Elizabeth wasn't as bad as it usually is. I spent every single second I could with her to repay for the times I'd completely brushed her off, just so she would be happy before my departure would ruin it again.

I find my death to be quite ironic, though. I remember my Mother telling me that she and her husband ended up in a carriage accident, which resulted in him dying. It seems whoever I speak to has had someone they know die, or has eventually ended up dead themselves. I feel like a walking death magnet sometimes. Unless it's Ciel's ring, since a lot of people have died either wearing it or at the hands of someone who has worn it-

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH! AH! AH-!"

The cry of agony that reached my ears immediately cut me out of my chain of thought and caused my body to freeze up from fright, which led me to holding my breath for a few seconds to make sure I wasn't heard. It sounded like the carriage driver. I was hoping that it wasn't a demon lurking around there.

I turned my gaze quickly towards where the front of the carriage was and saw his cinematic record flying up into the air into different strips and scatter about. I was able to relax however when I heard a familiar voice tut from nearby, along with just about seeing the back of a certain reaper facing them…

"… Good grief. If we weren't so understaffed, I would not have to keep doing overtime _without aid_…"

William T. Spears. Of course I'd know that voice from anywhere…

I didn't say a word then, but I was at least relieved to see him and not a random demon in the area. The last thing I need is having another demon other than Lucas attempt to contract with me, even though Lucas never threatened me to do so. In fact, that was never his intention, anyway, which I found out too late…

* * *

"_I-I… I love you, Victoria Macken… Y-You're the only human that I've ever met… who has made me feel like a human myself… And yet, allowing myself to believe in that lie, I've caused my own downfall… I-I'm sorry that I have to leave you like this…"_

* * *

I continued to watch on in silence as William used his claw scythe to eventually sever said cinematic record, signalling the end of that human's life. Poor carriage driver. Death has hit two birds with one stone, but has taken the innocent one first. Fate is cruel.

I know I sound very cynical right now about everything, but that's only because I more or less know of the fate in store for me. I probably would be panicking a lot more if I happened to witness William doing what he was right now and have no idea what was going on. But because I already know, that's had a huge impact on how I feel about everything… I will admit that I'm actually still a little scared though, especially since the very first time I witnessed such a thing was during my Mother's death…

* * *

"_This is…"_

"_The memories played back to be judged on the list of those who are scheduled to die by a higher power. That is the job of us Reapers. What kind of human they are, what sort of life they've led, whether they should be allowed to live or be killed…"_

"_In other words, it's like a flashback of their life?"_

"_My, do stop it with those horrible, old fashioned names. The dramatic pain, this is the true power of the Reaper. The cinematic record"_

* * *

As I watched the last of the cinematic record vanish from the area and into William's claw, silence fell over the area around us. I purposely remained silent just so I could possibly escape the chance of not being found by William and maybe find a way to save myself, which, for a sliver of hope on my behalf, was quite unlikely to happen, especially when I heard William speak.

"… Victoria Macken"

Once my name left his mouth, I knew he knew.

I allowed my body, or at least the top half of it, to slump a little bit as William slowly turned around to face me and carefully made his way through the rubble of the carriage in order to stand on my right side and tower over me, holding the middle of his claw in his left hand (from my view it was to the right) at his side. As my calm yet slightly annoyed and frightened blue eyes met his neutral and calm yellowy-green, I let out a huge sigh of relief and annoyance in one, which prompted me to cough a bit afterwards because I could slowly start to feel lack of air getting to my lungs. I was wondering when that might happen…

"H-Hello again, William. Long time no see. I was expecting to see someone show up here sooner or later"

It was easy to tell by my voice that I was in a lot of pain, especially since I sounded quite quiet and croaky in most places. I was surprised that I was still more or less able to speak without stuttering as much; although, my tone was strained.

Calmly using an index finger on his empty gloved hand to gently push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose again, I watched somewhat cautiously as William observed the look on my face and in my eyes, remaining his usual emotionless self. I don't think I've ever seen this reaper smile at all.

"Hm. I'm surprised. Despite the state you're in, you're acting fairly calm and casual. I presume you expected something like this to happen, yes?"

I gave a weak nod at that, smiling somewhat wryly.

"I-It doesn't take a genius t-to guess why you never told me what was to happen during my 'transformation' to a Grim R-Reaper… -cough- You were waiting for my death date, w-weren't you? That- That's why you gave me a limited amount of time to 'prepare' in the first place…"

More silence followed in between us now, and since William wasn't showing any emotion on his face whatsoever, the silence became hugely awkward. Mostly for me, not him.

A small sigh would sound from William then as he slowly and carefully knelt down on one knee so that he was nearer to my level, turning his claw diagonal so that it rested against the leg that was bent to hold him in place.

"Grim Reapers are forbidden from interfering or influencing human affairs. We couldn't simply turn you into a Grim Reaper there and then. We had to wait until your date of death before anything could be done, which, conveniently, was sooner than expected; although, at the same time, it's troublesome, because it means I have to work overtime"

I narrowed my eyes some at that remark and gave him the coldest glare I could muster.

"W-Well, don't go- -cough- go blaming me…! I-I didn't plan this…!"

As I went into a small coughing fit, preventing myself from saying anything more temporarily, William merely tutted at that and shook his head in a somewhat solemn manner; although, none of that was shown on his face, naturally.

"Victoria Macken, I'm not here for idle chatter. Could you please refrain from talking so that I can complete my work?"

Taking deep yet short breaths in order to recover from my coughing a moment ago, and cringing a little due to the sharp pain that ran across my chest because of it, I turned my head slightly to the side so that I could look William in the face better, seeming displeased.

"I-I will, but can you at least e-explain what you're- you're about to do, considering you- you- you failed to do so last time?"

Readjusting his glasses yet again as he took hold of his claw with both hands, William sighed loudly out of annoyance.

"Since your report states that you will die of blood loss, I will have to stab you with my death scythe in order to get access to your cinematic record. Once it has been severed, your life will end. What happens after that will take its own natural course"

I watched in silence then as William slowly stood up again and swung the claw around so that the claw part of it was pointed directly towards my chest. I didn't flinch at this action at all. All I did was slowly tilt my head back so that I was facing up towards the sky. I'd rather not watch myself get stabbed in the chest by a reaper…

"This will hurt, I'm sure, but I will try to make it as quick and painless as I can. Do you wish to watch your cinematic record back once I have done so?"

I found it odd that William had asked me that question. Then again, there were times where he acted polite despite his general beliefs, but that didn't mean he still didn't favour his general beliefs over politeness…

"… No, t-thank you. I'd rather not cry before I'm supposed to die"

"Good. I want this to be over and done with quickly. I'll give you a few seconds to prepare"

At that, I was quick to close my eyes tight and breathe one final breath to try to ease my nerves. I could feel myself trembling a little with, what I believed to be, fright and anticipation. I was relieved, at least, that this would be over with quickly. I wouldn't be in anymore pain then. Because I wasn't able to say goodbye to anyone at this moment in time, I decided to do it through my thoughts instead, just to give me peace of mine.

'Goodbye, everyone. I'm sorry for this…'

What followed after that had been both unexpected and quite painful. A sharp pain shot through my chest again, which prompted my eyes to suddenly open wide and a loud but breathless gasp to be released from my own mouth, followed by what I could only guess was blood due to its metallic like taste. I immediately felt the oxygen rush out and leave my lungs, and my body slowly beginning to numb. My cinematic record, brightly glowing white, flew from my chest similarly to the carriage driver's; although my vision was blurring that much that I couldn't make sense of anything.

I briefly saw flashes of familiar faces from the various memories that were playing back, despite the blurriness; Luca, Jim, Lin, Ren, Ciel, Lizzy, Bard, Mey-Rin, Finny, Lau, Ran-Moa, Sebastian, Grell, Hannah, Claude, Soma, Agni, the demon triplets, Pluto, Angela, Ash, Lucas, Undertaker, Angela Durless, Mother, Father and so on. Regret and anguish immediately washed over me at that, yet, even in death, I was willing to try to stay strong. I had to. I couldn't give it up now.

My ears began to ring, causing the sound around me to completely deafen. I could no longer hear anything else. I couldn't breathe at all. I was making strained noises that begged for oxygen and yet I wasn't getting any. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but watch as William finally removed his scythe from my chest, smeared in my own blood, and prepared to do exactly what he'd said: sever my cinematic record.

What happened next however was something neither of us had actually been expecting…

Agonising pain attacked my body and caused me to cry out mutely in pain, to which William immediately paused with what he was doing to observe. For a second, I swore I saw shock show upon his face. Then again, my vision was blurry as heck, so I couldn't really tell if what I was seeing was in fact correct. But whatever was happening to me I suspected wasn't right based upon William's movement.

Before long, as I felt my eyes start to water because I wasn't able to blink, and possibly from pain, my cinematic record seemed to go haywire. It was reaching higher into the sky and twisting around each other to almost form a giant knot. Blood spurted up from my chest and began to smother it, wiping the various images of my own life from view. Something was wrong. I became frightened. This wasn't supposed to be happening…

Yet it all ended the minute William decided to react and sever my cinematic record from my body, collecting it into his death scythe. My vision immediately began to go black, and the pain that I had felt previously vanished instantly. Everything was ending, and yet confusion still reigned…

* * *

"Hehehe… It appears the young Miss is finally stirring awake"

"See, Will? There was no need for you to fret after all! Everything went as planned!"

Voices… They sound familiar…

"Grell Sutcliff, everything _didn't _go as planned at all. There are still complications that remain"

Grell…? William…? Undertaker…? Are those who the voices belong to?

My question was answered the minute my eyes finally managed to force themselves open, only to squint the minute I felt light burning them, even though the lighting appeared to be pretty dim.

Despite my messed up vision, I was able to make out three familiar faces towering over me. Grell was one of them, on my top left. William was another, on my bottom left. And Undertaker was the final one, situated on my middle right. The light in question was also coming from my left somewhere, but at the moment I couldn't see a darn thing beyond forward, so… Yeah.

Although I was shocked to find that I coughed some and felt my chest heave up and down slowly, like I was breathing- Wait, _breathing_?! Aren't I dead yet?!

My eyes widened some in surprise and confusion as I shot up into a sitting position immediately, causing the Undertaker to back up and giggle in his maniac little way. I realised then that if the Undertaker was present, I was in his shop. The irony. I was probably lying in one of his coffins as well, but I'd question that little detail later…

"Hehehe! Looks like someone's eager!"

Grell stumbled back into the wall with surprise due to my abrupt actions, looking like I had given him a heart attack.

"A little _too _eager, more like!"

My confused gaze immediately crossed with William's emotionless one as I tried to make sense of this situation in its entirety.

"… W-William! What happened? Am I-I dead, or-?"

"It more or less went as planned"

More confusion appeared on my face then as I looked down towards my trembling and shaky hands, only to notice that I was still wearing my current attire from before, even though it was still badly bloodstained. However, I realised that I wasn't in pain anymore, and that the injuries I'd had didn't appear to be present. Had I been… _re-born_?

My confusion must have been picked up by William, because he was soon quick to go on after fixing his glasses.

"You are now a Grim Reaper, as I said before. Unlike demons, Reapers aren't immune to human ailments; therefore, although you are immortal, you still retain various human needs. Even breathing; although, even that can be overlooked, since you don't need to breathe, really"

_Oh… _Now I understand. That actually reminded me of something Grell once said. I think it was during the incident at that catholic monastery…

* * *

"_I was doing some investigation work for Will. However, I didn't find much information, and because I got hungry and tired, I decided to have a nap amongst flowers in a field. I somehow ended up being brought here. It could have been a mistake not to breathe while sleeping!"_

* * *

That seemed to calm me down immensely, and I began to feel much better about this entire situation. Nothing went wrong. That's good- Wait, didn't William…?

I was quick to turn confused again, much to William's annoyance when he placed a hand of his to his forehead and frowned a little, lifting my head up so my gaze crossed with his.

"W-Wait, you said 'more or less'… What does that mean? Am I not…?"

As William sighed heavily, Grell seemed to perk up then and smile at me devilishly, which I didn't really like…

"I warned you that the brat was sharp, Will!"

"…"

I watched William cautiously as he tried to find the right words to explain what had happened. He didn't seem to want to, but I was nervous to find out myself, because it had to be something bad if they were reacting in such a way about it.

"… As you probably witnessed during your… _final moments_, something did start to go horribly wrong, and although it was mostly prevented, it still manifested halfway-"

"In other words, you're part demon"

"Grell Sutcliff, don't interrupt"

Upon hearing Grell's words, I froze up in horror and stared at the two reapers before me in both shock and disbelief. It was not only confusing for me at this point, but it was also terrifying. I… I was part demon as well. This isn't what I had wanted anyway, but it horrified me nonetheless.

As Grell had started to walk forward with a small hand mirror in his gloved hand, my gaze remained locked on William as I made an attempt to pry him for answers.

"D-D-Demon…? Y-You mean…? B-But… H-How is that…?"

I faded out completely when Grell finally paused before the left side of the coffin and shoved the hand mirror into my face, causing my eyes to widen in shock and horror all the more. Although it came to my attention that my vision was… slightly blurred still, which at this moment in time I didn't know why. But that was the least of my concerns…

What concerned me right now were my eyes. My face was fairly normal, still the same as it always was, but my left eye had started to glow a bright red the minute I'd blinked. Not only that, but my eyes were no longer my usual shade of blue. The one on the right had become a yellowy-green, similar to that of the eye colours possessed by Grell and William. My left eye, at the moment, was a blood red, nothing like the pinky-red that Ciel's eyes had when revealing his demon side. It was clear now that Grell wasn't kidding, but I don't understand how this could have happened. At least, at first…

As I shakily reached up my right hand in order to hover it underneath my left eye, as if hesitating in touching it in case something bad happened, William had continued on to explain before Grell had rudely interrupted him.

"It appears that like the vermin's pet, your outcome was supposed to be the same; however, it didn't take effect like it should have done. That might have been because, at the time, you were apparently not present within your own body, and, unlike the vermin's pet, were more or less still alive. It didn't take effect until you were on the brink of death, it seems…"

I didn't know what this meant for me. Technically, this made me a demon and grim reaper hybrid. I was supposed to become a demon after all, yet William must have prevented that in order to make sure I didn't disrupt the balance and join the side of the immortals that the reapers despised. It frightened me greatly, as I didn't know what was to become of me. Surely, I couldn't become what they had intended for me now, could I? Not whilst I'm like this…

And the worse part was that I didn't know how far the transformation had gone. I was a demon, meaning I'd search for souls to eat, wouldn't I? And for the reapers, that was bad. They don't like demons that do that.

I looked away from my reflection then in order to look over at William uneasily, trembling a little more as I tried to process everything in my head to calm myself down.

"H-How far has the transformation gone…? W-What's to become of me now? S-Surely I can't be a reaper if-"

"I can assure you, Victoria Macken, that all will still go as planned"

And as I frowned in confusion to that, William adjusted his glasses some with his finger and continued calmly.

"I have already spoken with the higher ups about this issue. You were analysed whilst you were unconscious, and we found that the transformation was stopped early enough. You can't take human souls since you aren't a full demon. Therefore, you aren't considered a threat. You have still been given a chance to prove yourself as a recruit, since the Dispatch here are… still understaffed"

That explanation seemed to calm me down considerably. I was going to be okay. That was good.

Upon seeing me sigh heavily out of relief then and turn my head away from the hand mirror, which he was quick to leave on the coffin lid beside the coffin, Grell seemed to smirk mockingly then and bend forward to my level, hands on his hips and his face inches away from mine. He did, however, lift up one hand to waggle an index finger in front of me in a somewhat stern manner.

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't look relieved yet, brat! You aren't a full-fledged reaper, which means you'll have to train and take the final exam, just like the rest of us did!"

Okay. That did burst my bubble a little bit. It was the word _exam_ that got me there. I was okay with doing the training part, because I figured that I couldn't be given a job right there and then, and I wasn't sure if reaping souls was the only job that reapers had. After all, even though I had seen part of the reaper's world, it was only the library where they stored all of the cinematic records. I hadn't seen anywhere else.

I turned to William then with more confusion and uneasiness, especially with Grell still leaning in my face. I'd rather William explain this one. Although Grell explains it simply and clearly, he beats around the bush. William doesn't.

"… Final exam?"

As William had finally had enough of Grell and strolled forward in order to yank the redhead away by the back of his red coat (or rather _my mother's_ red coat), thus resulting in him flying across the room and into one of the upright coffins with a loud crash, which made me cringe, he decided to go into detail for me, all whilst the Undertaker laughed his head off from the comical scene and Grell began yelling profanities as he clambered back out of the coffin before it fell over from the force and trapped him in there.

"All new recruits must undertake the training and final exam. The final exam will consist of you being partnered with another individual. The two of you will be given a report on a human who is about to die, and you must decide whether or not they should be removed from the soul retrieval list based upon if they have influence over-"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

I held up a hand then as I interrupted him purposely, just so I could understand the situation.

"… _I_ have to become a reaper that reaps souls from the human world? Aren't there any other jobs that you have there, which I can do, because I don't think I would be able to handle returning back here to take souls-?"

"We do, yes; however, as I have mentioned, the retrieval division is heavily understaffed, and having more recruits subjected to that area will prevent overtime. I'm afraid you don't have much choice in the matter…"

I merely stared at William in utter disbelief then and slowly shook my head in dismay. It seems that I can't avoid this one. I'll have to actually make sure I become a fully-fledged grim reaper in order to make sure I 'keep the balance'.

I flinched however in surprise when I heard the Undertaker giggling in his creepy little way behind me, to which I ended up turning my head towards him as he slowly walked over.

"Miss Macken, I have to say, your misery in this situation is quite amusing. Of course, that's in reference to what you will have to face against your will. Hehehe…"

As Undertaker eventually stopped before me and smiled somewhat eerily, I felt my stomach flip. I know that I've thought of Undertaker as a creep in the past, and as of late he has in fact been somewhat helpful in my endeavours, but this one instance made me feel rather unsettled, especially since, from my view, that the smile he was giving me had no relation to his usual behaviour…

"I did make an offer to keep you under my wing here in the shop; however, that wasn't acceptable. It's a shame…"

I slowly leaned back and quietly gulped when he bent forward to my eye level, his head tilting slightly to the side. He was slowly moving his face closer to mine, which wasn't helping matters.

"Your condition in particular… somewhat intrigues me…"

I have to admit that I've never seen the Undertaker act so serious before. It's disturbingly unnatural…

I shrieked some in surprise then as I watched the Undertaker get roughly pulled backwards at the hands of Grell, who seemed really annoyed at him.

"Oh no! We don't need any more of your impudence here- Ow!"

I blinked in surprise when William had moved forward to smack Grell on the back of the head with his claw, watching on calmly as Grell ended up falling to the floor and gripping the back of his head with both hands, yelling random words and phrases in regard to the pain he was feeling right now.

"Sutcliff, how many times must I tell you to mind your language and actions around this paragon?"

I could only blink in confusion then as I watched Grell stumble to his feet and go off into a quiet rage about how William could have damaged his 'precious face'. But then William was quick to turn towards the Undertaker, who had managed to redeem himself after Grell had roughly yanked him backwards.

"But Mr Sutcliff does make a valid point. Since you are retired from active duty, and are considered by many to be a 'deserter', you have no right to take custody over Miss Macken, especially since she is required to do much more than merely exist as a Grim Reaper"

The Undertaker responded to that with another creepy giggle before slowly slinking off towards one of the upright coffins nearby without saying another word. I will never understand his way of thinking; although, Grell's reaction towards the Undertaker, as well as the Undertaker's reactions towards me, were quite suspicious. I'd better make a note of that for future reference.

Quietly sighing then and fixing his glasses with a gloved hand by sliding it up the bridge of his nose, William slowly turned to face me again and began to reach into his suit pocket.

"Come along now, Sutcliff. We need to escort Miss Macken back to headquarters"

"Ugh… Why did I have to be assigned to this anyway?! I'd rather be mourning over the loss of my Sebby, and how the red curtain has finally dawned on a love that shall never be heard of again!"

Grell is _still_ obsessing over Sebastian? Seriously?

As Grell grouchily and dismayingly heaved himself up from the floor, I was about to make an attempt to get up out of the coffin, until I was promptly stopped by William pulling out a pair of circular lensed glasses from his suit jacket pocket.

"However, let me be the first to say this…"

I remained still and silent then, watching in confusion, as William slowly leaned forward and gently pushed the glasses onto my face with his hands, before slowly standing up straight again with his claw facing upright at his side. Grell merely stood behind him then and folded his arms, smirking at me somewhat pleasingly. I have no clue why he did that, but when I blinked a few times, I realised that my vision had become clearer than before. But as I finally looked between William and Grell with a neutral expression, I realised that my life was now going to take a drastic turn. Everything that I once knew was about to change, and I would have to abandon it in order to move forward. A new chapter was about to begin in my story…

"… Welcome to the Grim Reaper Dispatch Organisation, Victoria Macken"

* * *

**Compared to last time, I've made much more of an attempt to actually keep the canon characters in character as much as possible, since I felt like I didn't do that very well in the first story when there were moments of straying away from the anime itself. Also, I've been doing a lot of reading on the Kuroshitsuji Wiki in order to fully understand how the Grim Reaper Dispatch works and so on, along with the restrictions of what the anime allows and the attributes and abilities of each immortal being that is shown, especially Grim Reapers and Demons. I want to try to keep this story as realistic as possible without screwing stuff up. Considering my first story was actually the first time I'd written a Kuroshitsuji fanfic, I could understand why I was such a noob with things.**

**I will try and update this story as soon as I can, but until then, I hope you have enjoyed my somewhat crappy attempt and stick around for the next chapter.**


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